Idaho Internet Service Guide

If you’re moving for school or work, or just need to find a new internet service provider in the state of Idaho, then you’ll find our guide below helpful. We cover who the major ISPs are, who the local providers are, what the coverage looks like for mobile internet and the top 5 colleges and what kind of internet access they offer their students.

Find the Best Internet Service Provider in Your Area of Idaho

Local Residential Internet Service Providers

Below you will find the details for internet service providers who are smaller and/or focus primarily in the state of Idaho.

arcZip: arcZip basic Dial-up Plan costs $14.95/month. They also offer the BrowseBlast dial-up package for $19.90/month that lets you browse the net at near-DSL speeds, at a fraction of the price. To contact them, you can simply call 866-890-4511.

Juno: Juno has two Dial-Up plans. The Juno Platinum Basic Dial-Up costs $10.95 a month where you can get unlimited internet service, email with spam/virus protection, and more. You can also take advantage of their Juno Turbo Accelerated Dial-Up package which costs $14.95 a month. This includes an Accelerator technology which gives you the fastest dial-up connection you can get. Contact them at 800-879-5866.

NetZero: NetZero offers DSL Broadband for as low as $9.95/month. The download speed reaches up to 6.0Mbps and includes Norton AntiVirus Online, pop-up blocker and a modem with firewall ($62 value). You will have to provide your phone number in order to get a quotation on the accurate price you’ll have to pay in your area. Contact them at 800-638-9376.

Local Business Internet Service Providers

And these are companies that provide internet service to small businesses. Again, these are smaller and/or local companies in the state of Idaho.

CableOne: CableOne has a Business Economy High Speed Internet & Data package for up to 5 Mbps download speed. Other plans like Business Suite (SOHO), Office, and Business Enterprise High Speed Internet & Data have up to 50 Mbps download speeds. The difference are their upload speeds, number of email accounts, and the data usage per month. The prices are not stated on their website as you will have to call CableOne to get a quote. Their phone number is (208) 375-8288.

HughesNet: HughesNet has Express Service Plans for your Business. The Expres 200 runs up to 2Mbps download speed at $109.99/month. The Express 300 runs up to 3 Mbps download at $199.99/month. Lastly, the Express 500 runs up to 5Mbps download and costs $349.99/month. For more details, you can call 800-630-2713.

Idaho Internet Connections and Coverage

This section of our Idaho internet service guide will focus on the speed and reliability of the internet coverage in Idaho.

What we have first are stats regarding how fast Idaho’s internet speeds are. They are first compared on a national level, then we compared them on a city to city and ISP to ISP level.

On a national level, Idaho has an average speed of 9.05 Mpbs, which is below the national average of 12.55 Mbps.

The 5 cities with fastest internet speed in Idaho are:

Coeur D Alene – 14.25Mbps

Idaho Falls – 11.09 Mbps

Rexburg – 10.48Mbps

Pocatello – 10.32Mbps

Twin Falls – 10.27Mbps

The 5 fastest internet service providers in Idaho are:

Cable One – 13.50Mbps

Road Runner – 12.60 Mbps

Fairpoint Communications – 10.43Mbps

Northland Cable Television – 10.04Mbps

Qwest – 7.28Mbps

Mobile 3G Internet Coverage for Idaho

Idaho’s mobile internet coverage is not very wide. It’s only available in a few major cities. The reason why is because the state is covered by rocky and mountainous terrains (northern areas).

Here is a rough idea of what the mobile coverage looks like for a few providers in Idaho. Please keep in mind that these may not be the only ISPs with mobile coverage in Idaho, and that at any time their coverage can change. Before buying, you should double check the ISP’s coverage map to ensure that you’ll have adequate coverage.

NetZero & Sprint offers 4G mobile internet in Idaho, but is limited to the city of Boise. The same goes for Clear’s 3G coverage.

AT&T mobile coverage reaches in parts of southern Idaho such as Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Verizon’s mobile internet also covers these areas in the south.

Top 5 Colleges in Idaho& Their Internet Access

If you’re planning on attending college in Idaho, then this section is for you. We’ve listed the top 5 colleges and what internet access, if any, that they provide to students.

Students can connect to the wireless internet by accessing the AirVandalSetup network first, and then accessing the AirVandalGold network.

The AirVandalSetupnetwork is used to register your computer and is the first step in getting connected to the wireless network. The AirVandalGold is the actual wireless network on campus which requires a username and password to authenticate your computer to the network.

Idaho State University offers wireless internet to it students while on campus. Students only need a current ISU and register their wireless Mac address with the computer center. Afterwards, they should obtain a copy of the Service Set Identifier (SSID) from the computer center, and then obtain a copy of the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) keys from the computer center.

Wired Internet access in BSU are offered in the Boise State University Housing building and students only need to use an Ethernet cable to connect their computer to a wall jack in their room. For those wanting wireless internet access, BSU offers an unsecured network titled “RES” (You may have to click “Connect Anyway”). Wireless is only available in the lobbies in the residence halls. Wireless is not available in the apartments, except University Village.

Brigham Young University will be transitioning most housing areas from wired connections to wireless. Employees, Students and Affiliates with a NetID – Connect to the BYU Secure network (key=byuwireless), for optimal access and speed. As of Oct, 2011 – Current Speeds are up to 7 Mbps for uploads and downloads. For campus guests, they can access the wireless internet by connecting to the BYU Guest Network.

Wireless network is available to access the internet inside all major campus

buildings, and outdoors on the lawn surrounding the Student Union Building and Sam

Glenn Complex. Students can use their own laptops or checkout wireless laptops at

the SUB Information Desk. Every residence hall room is equipped with a high-speed internet access for each student living in the suite. Internet access is also available from various locations on campus including kiosk systems located at various sites, and from all student computer labs.

Free Internet Access Spots in Idaho

Aside from common places like coffee shops, restaurants and libraries, there are also other places where you can get free Wi-Fi access in Idaho:

South 93 RV Park in Twin Falls

Downtown area in Idaho Falls (Downtown area – from the county buildings overlooking the Greenbelt, the east side of the Greenbelt and up and down ‘A’ street and Park.)

City Park in Fruitland

Please keep in mind that this is far from a complete list of free internet hotspots in Idaho. These are just some of the more well-known or popular areas.